Humanity needs to create a more sustainable society, to re-thinking its economy and to reduce greenhouse gases and its overall environmental impact. In this context rethinking of the existing electronics paradigm is crucial; currently, electronics are responsible for heavy pressure on our environment in the form of, for example, need for scarce and environmentally impacting resources (e.g. metals and petroleum), high energy and resource demanding manufacturing processes and large disposal rate (worldwide ca. 60 Mtons of electronics waste expected in 2021). The drive toward more sustainable/circular electronics has not only pushed strong legislative actions but has also seeded new paradigms as those of green electronics.
The ambition of HyPELignum is to demonstrate that manufacturing of electronics with net zero carbon emission is achievable by implementing a holistic approach, centred on additive manufacturing and wooden and wood derived materials with wood being a technically versatile biogenic material largely available across Europe. Importantly the activities proposed in the project strongly align with several of the activities/regulations of the European Union to address climate changes such as: New European Bauhaus initiative (EC-Bauhaus-Initiative), LULUCF Regulation and associated European Commission climate goals.
Key technical objectives of the HyPELignum project are:
(i) Promote the use of biogenic and sustainable materials, wood and wood derivatives, in electronics.
(ii) Demonstrate the applicability of lignocellulosic materials, bioderived resins and abundant and low impacting transition as main ingredients in the metals to be used in the manufacturing of electronic elements.
(iii) Develop of highly energy efficient μchip.
(iv) Design and demonstrate novel functional coating to facilitating the separation of the different materials (wood, electronic components and metals) enabling in this way easier recycling of them.
(v) Propose a decision-making tool, based on sustainability analysis (life cycle, toxicity, and biodegradability), to be used for the design of green and circular electronics.
(vi) Contribution to the consolidation of the definition of green and circular electronics.
To bring the proposed objective to life and to demonstrate the impact of the proposed vision the HyPELignum project will develop a series of demonstrators including:
(i) “greener” PCB (printed circuit board) concepts.
(ii) sensors integrated in construction elements and furniture.
(iii) System with detachable electronic components.
